Prevalence of hypocalcemia in children examined for serum calcium in Sana'a, Yemen

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of hypocalcemia in children examined for serum calcium.

METHODS: A record-based study was carried out in the Specialized Pediatric Center in Sana'a city, Yemen during the 4 year period 1999 to 2003. Out of 90600 patients seen for different causes, 310 (0.34%) were subjected to serum calcium level examination. Data regarding age and gender were also collected.

RESULTS: The median age of the patients was 5 months, with minimum age of one day and maximum age of 4 years. Prevalence of hypocalcemia among children examined for serum calcium was 58%, 60% of them were males and 40% were females. Age group of 0-1 months constituted 17.8% while the age group of 1-3 months constituted 17.2%. Patients with serum calcium level between 4-6 mg constituted 27.8% and less than 7.5 mg were 72.2%.

CONCLUSION: Prevalence of hypocalcemia in children examined for serum calcium was high. Males were more affected than females and was more in neonates followed by age 1-3 months then age 3-6 months.